... beware chairs 2 and 3!

• Ask the youth to name someone God tells us of in the Bible that loved God with everything he/she was and had, obeyed God when He called, believed God loved and forgave him/her, and helped others know the true God. Say, "This person had commitment to God and would sit in this 1st chair". Place or tape the word, "Commitment" on that chair. (This person is NOT perfect, like Jesus, but trusts in God for everything in life.)

• Ask the youth if they know of someone living TODAY that displays "Commitment"?

• Repeat the 2 steps above for the 2nd chair, using the word "Compromise". An example of this is Solomon who loved God but also worshipped his foreign wives' false gods, or Jonah who ran away when God told him to go to Nineveh, or Saul who knew God but killed the early Christians. (This person knows about God, but falls away in temptation of doubt or disbelief.) God desires to draw this person to repentance and back to the first chair!

• Repeat the same process for the 3rd chair, using the word "Conflict". Examples of this are Absalom who rebelled against the king God had put in place - his father David, or Judas who betrayed Jesus and turned away from God's forgiveness, or Ananias & Sapphira who hardened their hearts against the truth and planned a lie before God. (This person makes a HABIT of pride, stubbornness, and disobedience.) God is patient with this person and keeps trying to draw him/her back to God's grace unless the person totally and finally rejects God.

• BIG QUESTION: Which chair do YOU want to stay in?

• How do we help each other stay in that 1st chair? (Read God's Word every day! Pray every day! Regularly go to church, Sunday School, and Connection Group!)

• Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and ask what other activities God says will help our commitment? 1) Talk about what God says and what the Bible means OFTEN - at meals, in car rides, before bed 2) Wear clothes, jewelry, put scriptural symbols and items in homes, at work, in school lockers 3) MEMORIZE God's Word 4) Carry the Word into our daily lives with serving actions and words that show God's will and ways.

Adults - These "points to ponder" are based on materials created by Bruce Wilkinson. His "3 chairs" visual is a powerful image to help us evaluate our current faith journey:

Points to Ponder - Which chair do I sit in? Which chair do my children, friends, relatives sit in? In my home, do I intentionally design life to CENTER around God and His Word? Does our family interact with God's truth and grace in visual, mental, verbal, tactile, emotional and relational ways? Am I authentic and transparent with family and friends? What next steps can I & my family take to be more engaged with God and His Word?

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.